OREGON – It is clear that Marguerite Nye, known as Maggie, made an impact on Ogle County.
She served on the Ogle County Board from 1982-92 and from 2008-18 and is believed to be the first elected woman to have served on the board. She was a champion for many, giving her time to the CASA Board, Village of Progress Board, Focus House and many others.
At its July meeting, the Ogle County Board honored the memory of Nye, who died in December 2019, with a photograph and plaque that will hang in the Ogle County Courthouse.
At the meeting were Nye’s husband, Phil; daughter Maggie Conboy of Denver, Colo.; son Mose of Park Ridge; and close friend Tim Knoerzer and his daughter Cassidy, of Califon, N.J.
“I met Maggie through her brother, Kevin Glynn, who was my roommate at Northwestern and she came to Rochelle after we were married in 1964,” Phil said. “Maggie grew up Irish on Chicago's south side and was as Irish as ‘Paddy's pig.’ She was up to her ears in politics and loved to campaign and follow local and state politics. She ran and was elected to the Ogle Board after she was rejected for a vacancy the previous year by an appointment for a vacancy. She ran first on the ticket in 1982, and served a little over 20 years holding numerous chairmanships and appointments.”
According to the resolution adopted by the board, during her time of service with the county, she served as chair of the Juvenile and Probation Committee, chair of the Health Education and Welfare Committee and chair of the Courthouse Restoration Committee.
“She was truly a Renaissance gal whose interests ran from oil painting, taking tap dancing lessons in her 70s and practicing on the garage floor, working with Serenity Hospice, playing the piano, serving on local community Boards such as Village of Progress, Hope, Shining Star, Drug Advisory, and CASA, dancing at every opportunity and World travel,” Phil said.
Maggie was employed for many years as a hospice worker at Serenity Hospice and Home.
She died after battling multiple myeloma for more than 17 years.
“I never heard her make a single complaint about her illness during the entire time.,” Phil said.
